Right to Censor

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Right to Censor
Stable
Members Stevie Richards
Bull Buchanan
The Goodfather
Val Venis
Ivory
Debuted July 2000
Disbanded April 2001
Promotions WWF

The Right to Censor was a faction in the World Wrestling Federation from mid-2000 to early 2001. The group was a parody of the Parents Television Council, who were, at the time, protesting the level of violence and sexual content in WWF programming and threatening to boycott several of their sponsors.

The group was formed when wrestler Stevie Richards began to randomly appear on WWF programming to cover up the bodies of scantily clad women or remove "hardcore" weapons such as tables from matches. He apparently took offense to the Acolytes's rowdy reputation and disapproved of the Dudley's use of their tables. He was eventually joined by Bull Buchanan, The Goodfather (formerly the Godfather), Val Venis, and Ivory. The group would temporarily force The Kat in to its fold, but The Kat and the WWF parted ways before that storyline could completely play itself out. Before being forced into the group The Kat was starting a group called Right to Nudity (Which was to play on The Kat's infamous pay-per-view stunt where she appeared topless), which is what brought her to Right to Censor's attention.

The group had a moderate level of success, with Buchanan and the Goodfather holding the WWF Tag Team Championship and Ivory capturing the WWF Women's Championship before entering in to a high-profile feud with Chyna. The group was finally disbanded after Steven Richards was hit with The Last Ride by The Undertaker and Kane, The Goodfather, Buchanan and Ivory all walked out and left him lying in the ring. After this, the group's members were kept off television for a period of time before the majority of them reverted to their previous personas before the advent of the faction.

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Trivia

  • The actual function of the group was to provide storyline cover for the WWF to accede to certain wishes of the PTC, the very group the Right to Censor was intended to mock. For example, the WWF knew very well that the Godfather's status as a pimp and his explicit references to cannabis and his "Ho Train" were making him a liability. On an episode of RAW, the Godfather fought Bull Buchanan in a match, where if the Godfather won, the Right to Censor would disband, but if he lost, Godfather would lose the Ho Train. When Buchanan won the match, not only did the Ho Train end, but by the next SmackDown!, Godfather had "seen the light" and joined the RTC himself, now called the Goodfather. In this way, the WWF was able to tone down the content of the shows, while transferring fan resentment to a storyline faction.
  • According to Ivory, the writer responsible for the Right to Censor storyline had left the company.
  • The Goodfather and Stevie Richards were the only members who were faces before they joined Right to Censor.
  • The Right to Censor came out victorious in at least one match of every PPV they participated on from mid-2000 to early 2001. At SummerSlam 2000, Richards, Buchanan, and the Goodfather won a 6-man tag match against Too Cool & Rikishi. At the next PPV, Unforgiven, the RTC (now with Val venis) won an 8-man tag match against the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) and the Dudley Boyz. Even though The Goodfather and Bull Buchanan lost the Dudley Invitational at No Mercy 2000, Venis and Richards managed to defeat Chyna and Mr. Ass in a tag match. When Women's Champion Ivory joined the group, she won 3 PPV matches in a row for the group. She defeated Lita in a title match at Survivor Series 2000 while The Goodfather and Buchanan lost a Survivor Series Elimination Match. At Armageddon 2000, Ivory came out victorious once again in a triple-threat title match against Molly Holly and Trish Stratus, and Val Venis also was victorious over Chyna. Meanwhile, Buchanan and The Goodfather continued the losing streak when they lost the Tag Team Titles to Edge & Christian in a Fatal 4-Way tag match. At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Ivory once again retained her title by defeating Chyna; on the other hand, Buchanan, The Goodfather, and Venis all failed in their attempt to win the Royal Rumble Match. No Way Out 2001 that year marked the last time the RTC would win a match at a PPV when Steven Richards defeated Jerry Lawler. WrestleMania X-Seven was the symbolic end of the Right to Censor, since the stable lost all of the matches they were scheduled to participate in, Buchanan, Venis, and the Goodfather lost a 6-man tag match against the APA and Tazz while Ivory lost her title to Chyna. Weeks later, the group finally disbanded for good.
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